One of the best things about beading is the sheer variety of materials you can use. There are hundreds of different beads in our collection alone, and each of them has something special to bring to the right project.
However, some beads and findings are noticeably more popular than others. What is it about these that makes them so attractive to so many crafters? Today, we’ll take a look at our top 4 best-selling products and the many possible applications for each of them.
1. Gold Filled Plain Round Beads
Gold-filled round plain beads are some of the most versatile beads we have in our collection. These small, shiny beads make great base materials for jewelry projects, giving the piece a luxurious and attractive look without upstaging more dramatic elements like pendants and gemstone beads.
Our line of gold-filled round beads is available in sizes ranging from 2mm all the way up to 12mm. You can get most sizes in either the bold classic gold or softer rose gold. Our 3mm Gold Filled Plain Round Bead is our most popular option and is just the right size for slim necklaces, bracelets, or even earrings.
2. Gold Filled Clasps
No jewelry project is complete without a clasp. Our gold-filled clasps are enduring best-sellers and come in a variety of different styles, including fish hook, lobster claw, filigree, and trigger clasps. Some are even made to hold up to 7 strands together, allowing you to create intricate pieces with ease.
Our most popular gold-filled clasp is our 6mm Gold Filled Spring Rings Lock, a simple clasp that opens and closes using a spring-loaded internal mechanism. Small, secure, and easy to use, it’s an excellent option for almost any piece of jewelry and won’t leave you worrying about whether it might come loose.
3. Sterling Silver Plain Round Beads
Gold not quite your style? Our sterling silver plain round beads are similar to our gold-filled round beads in terms of utility, but their pale shine completely changes the look of the pieces they’re used to create. They’re great for creating elegant jewelry using a cooler color palette than you would typically see from gold pieces.
These beads range between 2mm and 19mm in size, so you’ll have no trouble finding the right size to bring your creative vision to life. Our 4mm Sterling Silver Plain Round Bead is the most popular of this bunch and strikes the perfect balance between showiness and easy wearability.
4. Gold Filled Curved Tubes
Rounding out our top 4 categories is our set of gold-filled curved tube beads. These beads are much longer than your typical bead and look like a slimmer version of a macaroni noodle. They may be made up of one single curve or multiple curves that work together to create a twisting shape. These curves also vary in severity: some are hardly bent at all while others are nearly semi-circular. When many of these beads are strung together, they create a longer curved shape that looks like it’s made of a single piece of metal.
Our gold-filled curved tube beads are available in sizes up to 72mm long and come in many different textures, including smooth, fluted, and twisted. Our best seller is the 5x37mm Gold Filled Curved Tube, a beautifully simple medium-sized bead that almost perfectly replicates the look and feel of a thicker gold wire. They’re great for making bracelets, chokers, and other pieces that look best when resting directly against the skin.
Give These Great Beads a Go
Any avid beader who has never worked with any of these beads is missing out on a whole new range of crafting possibilities. Why not get some for your next project? You can pick up any of these beads and more with just a few clicks at our online bead supply wholesale store. Grab a few and see what new trinkets and treasures you can make with these quality supplies.
Christmas is coming up fast – do you know what to get for everyone on your holiday shopping list? If not, we’ve got the perfect solution for you. Jewelry and other projects made with gold-filled beads are great for men, women, and children can be customized to match each person’s tastes and look so wonderfully upscale that you’d never guess how easy they are to make.
To help you start planning out all of your holiday projects, we’ll be taking a look at a few of the many gold-filled beads we stock at our online store. We’ll talk about what they look like, whether they come in different sizes or textures, and how to use each of them to their best advantage this holiday season.
1. Gold Filled Round Beads
Gold-filled round beads are simple round golden beads. They come in a few different sizes and are sometimes textured to add visual interest, but plain ones are also very common.
Gold-filled round beads are perhaps the most versatile type of bead available. You’ll want to buy them in bulk if you plan on doing any extensive work with gold-filled beads. You can use them in any of your projects from jewelry making. They’re so simple and understated that they won’t take over the piece, but instead lend it a subtle touch of luxury. They’re also great when paired with other luxury materials like Swarovski crystals.
2. Gold Filled Rice Beads
Gold-filled rice beads are long oval-shaped golden beads. Fittingly, most of them resemble large grains of rice. Some are very long and slender while others are shorter and bulkier, closer to a round bead in appearance. They are available in both plain and textured varieties.
Rice beads are often used instead of round beads when a beader wants to create a slimmer and more delicate piece. Like gold-filled round beads, gold-filled rice beads can be used in almost every project you can think of and offer a pleasantly upscale look.
3. Gold Filled Curved Tube Beads
Gold-filled curved tube beads are long, slightly curved beads that somewhat resemble pieces of dried macaroni. They are often twisted, corrugated, or otherwise textured to give them a little more visual interest.
Curved tube beads are used when a beader wants to simulate the appearance of an unbroken band of metal, usually for a necklace or bracelet. They can also be used as spacer beads to separate showier elements like charms or rose crystal beads. For obvious reasons, you should avoid using these beads unless you want a curved shape in your final design. Rice beads or interlocking beads can be used to create a similar effect without the curve.
4. Gold Filled Saucer Beads
Gold-filled saucer beads are shaped like large rounded discs, making them look a bit like a flying saucer with a hole on the top. They are significantly larger than your standard round bead and come in a variety of smooth and textured options.
These beads are great for accenting chunkier pieces, especially bracelets. Adding a single saucer bead between basic round or rice beads immediately draws the eye to the saucer bead and can give the piece some subtle visual interest, especially if the saucer bead is textured. Some beaders also use them alone to create a thicker version of a basic round bead piece.
5. Gold Filled Interlock Beads
Gold-filled interlock beads are beads that are made to fit together when placed side by side on a string or wire. When they are carefully placed in an unbroken line, a beader can use interlock beads to create a piece that looks and feels uniquely smooth and almost seamless.
These beads are great for creating thick yet pliable sections of gold material, so use them for projects where this is the goal. They make stunning necklaces and bracelets but should not be used with many non-interlocking beads that could spoil the effect.
Get All the Gold Filled Beads You Need at Crystal Findings
Our next post will cover even more types of gold-filled beads (yes, there are more!), but for now, you can shop for some to get started on our online store. As the leading provider of wholesale beads and jewelry supplies in the US, we make sure we always have a wide selection of luxury beads in stock for customers like you.
Browse our current stock, put a few golden beads into your cart, and be sure to check back next time for even more information on gold filled beads!
